CB The Celestial Being
by nani'anela
Summary: (A spinoff of the movie E.T.) The eight-year-old angel Castiel gets left behind on the scary, wild and entirely new planet Earth, and it's up to ten-year-old Dean Winchester and his little brother Sam to keep this mysterious little angel hidden and safe. Will they be able to get him back home? Weechester with shameless fluff.
1. Chapter 1

It was a quiet night in a seemingly empty forrest, and anyone driving by on the empty road above would have never guessed what lay in the thick undergrowth in the dead of night, when most people would be fast asleep. A mysterious band of kids out way past their bedtimes were wandering amongst the ferns and heavy undergrowth.

"C'mon, Castiel! You're such a slowpoke!" Gabriel called back, chortling as he tromped among the thick plants, every so often bringing his lollipop from his mouth with a loud popping sound.

"He just thinks he's the boss because he's thirteen and the oldest," Ana reasurred the eight-year-old boy, kindly placing a hand on the top of his back. "Well, I'm eleven and I say you can take as long as you want." She said with a kind smile, tickling his not yet fully developed wings playfully like she always did. He giggled, flapped and readjusted the costume-sized raven black wings and smiled as she pushed the dark hair off his forehead affectionately.

"It's not everyday you get to visit earth for the first time." She smiled. "But you know I'm breaking the rules by bringing you here, you usually have to be old enough to fly. So stay close until we find the ingredient for the spell, okay?"

"Okay!" Cas answered, practically bobbbing up and down with excitement as he observed the world around him. What he loved the most about it was the sheer wildness and imperfection of the deep forrest; heaven was also so colorful, so neat and orderly, too _perfect_. He loved seeing the random patterns in the vines, the messiness of it all. And everything looked so _real_, not dreamy like the interpretations of things from earth in the heavens he saw.

The boy looked out excitedly at all his surroundings with curious, wide blue eyes, and he brought a pale hand out to stroke a fern cautiously. When he found it felt very nice, he broke into a smile and rushed forward, rubbing it on his cheek and closing his eyes so he could pay attention to the texture. Ana laughed lightheartedly and reached out for his hand, and he let himself by led away from the new plant with a small frown.

"That may be a good plant, Castiel, but some of these aren't so nice. They'll make your skin pink and itchy or some have thorns. You have to be careful." The boy nodded and followed his red-haired sister as she led him deeper into the undergrowth, following her older brothers, the twins Gabriel and Raphael and her twelve-year-old brother Balthazar as they searched for one of the ingredients for a powerful spell, the flower from a plant that was thousands of years old, hidden in this very forrest.

Cas let his hand, which was still just a little pudgy from baby fat, tickle among the thick plants as he almost felt like the little green leaves were reaching out to feel his human hand too. Everything was so new and exciting, he let go of Ana's hand as he crouched by a mysterious new plant, a bush with beautiful flowers that looked kind of like a rolled up paper, they were pink and smelled so good. He touched the soft petals and leaned in for a smell, closing his eyes as he heard his older brothers and sister talking to each other.

"Stop goofing around, Gabriel! We need to find the flower before dad notices that we brought more than he wanted along!" Raphael scolded his twin, and Gabriel responded with an 'Nnnn!' and was no doubt sticking out his tongue.

"Why do we have to find this stupid thing anyways? I tried paying Samandriel off to come and get it for me but he was being a huge arse." Balthazar said in his boyish English accent. Suddenly, things got very quiet as shouts and loud rustling in the underbrush could be heard. Castiel's blue eyes flew open in shock and he accidentally crushed the flower he'd been holding in his hand with fear.

"Shit! We gotta go, Raphy!" Gabriel whispered loudly, and Cas froze in place when he heard a loud crack ring through the forrest. He didn't know that it had come from a gun, but the noise scared him, and he found himself whimpering and crawling into the bush at the second loud crack.

"Cassie! Cas, where are you?" He heard his sister's voice, but the men with the guns were coming closer and he couldn't crawl out as pokey, hurtful things dragged on his arms and scratched his skin. So these were the thorns that she had warned him about.

"Go on, git! Get outta here before I blow your damn heads off, you filthy creatures!" A scary man was yelling loudly, he loaded his shotgun almost angrily and leveled it on his shoulder, another loud crack rang out as Castiel trembled in the rose bush, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard the rustling of feathers and what sounded like the muted whump of a shaken out rug and he knew all four of his siblings had quickly fled. He whimpered and tried to untangle himself from the mean thorns that were biting him, but he held his breath as he saw the two men in flannels walk by, dangerously close to the bush in which he was hiding.

"Another angel infestation, ah Johnny?" The first man asked, laughing and he rested his gun on his shoulder. Castiel cupped his hand tightly over his mouth, hoping that his shaky breaths coming out from his nose wouldn't give him away. "I guess so. They keep coming 'round here, I have no idea what they want."

"Well, at least we scared 'em off for a little while." The first man answered again, and began heading out with loud, crunching footfalls. Castiel couldn't help but let out a small noise as a thorn dug deep into the top of his wing. John stayed behind, looking directly over the bush Cas was currently hiding in with shining blue eyes. "You all right there?" The other man asked again, looking at him with a peculiar expression. Finally, after a tense moment as Cas firmly clamped his hand over his mouth and tried to not breathe at all, the dark-haired man finally turned around. "No, it's nothing. C'mon, let's go get some shut-eye."

"You always were a damn paranoid idjit," The first man laughed, slugging John playfully on the shoulder. "Aw, shuddup!" John replied, playfully tipping the cap of the trucker hat down so it fell over his eyes. The two continued talking as their crunching footsteps faded away, and Cas finally realized he was safe.

With some difficulty he detangled himself from the rose bush, and cocked his head to the side as he saw the liquid red oozing out from the stinging parts. Why wasn't it white and in beams? That's usually what happened when he hurt. And what was this damp feeling on his forehead? Body water? He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and suddenly, after the immediate danger had passed, he realized he was all alone in this dark, wild, scary forrest in the middle of the night. His breath started coming quicker, and he felt this strange sensation like someone was punching him repeatedly from inside his chest. What was happening? Was his body dying?

"Ana? Gabriel?" He tried calling out, but his voice wasn't working as it felt all tight and his words sounded like they were all watery. He felt a prickly sensation in his eyes and a warm feeling smooth down his cheek. _That's it, I'm dying!_ He thought in a panic, and he tried flapping his ultrablack wings, but to no avail. He had mostly sleek black feathers, but a few parts were still covered in down. "Raphael, Balthazar?!" He cried out again, but his voice was swallowed by the still night air and he was met with nothing but silence. He felt more warm liquid trail down his cheeks and he curled up on the forrest floor, weeping quietly as the little angel had never felt so alone, trapped (for the time being) on a strange, new planet called Earth.

Little did the celestial being know that just around a mile away the little ten-year-old boy who lay fast asleep in a tiny room, cuddled up next to his six-year-old brother who had had another nightmare, was going to soon become largely entangled in his path.

* * *

_Hello! This is the first time I've tried out writing a short fic with shorter chapters than I normally write, so please tell me what you think! I'm thinking I'll stick with Saturday or Sunday updates. I love, love reviews, so don't be shy and please review :)_


	2. Chapter 2

"Dean, I'm hungry." Sam pouted as he handwashed his cereal bowl from breakfast this morning. Their dishwasher in their dingy apartment had broken a long time ago, and their dad hated it when the dishes piled up in the sink. It was almost lunchtime on a bright Saturday morning, and Sam was still in his little shark pajamas and Dean in his nightshirt, their dad had told them to not go far today, and they always listened when he told them that.

"What's it this time, dad?" Dean asked, tugging on the bottom of his shirt just before he left this morning. "Nothing much, just some rats of the skies as I like to call them. If you ever see something strange around these parts...you remember what to do, don't you Dean?" He asked, and Dean straightened up, keeping his 'little solider' expression on his face as he answered, hoping to impress him with his quick answer.

"Shoot first, ask questions later." He stated back, trying to sound as old as possible as he tried to keep his young, freckled face as solemn as possible. He really wanted his dad to ruffle his hair and tell him great job, but instead he just replied with a curt "Good. Take care of your brother while I'm gone." Then, he was out the door.

"I can make some mac and cheese. How about that?" Dean asked, scrubbing the counter with the rough side of a sponge, it had dried milk from when Sam had spilled milk this morning trying to pour the cereal by himself. Sam finally dried his bowl quickly, then climbed on to the counter and stood on his tiptoes to put away the bowl in the cupboard.

"No, Dean. I want some real food, we haven't had anything but cereal an' mac an' cheese for forever," He pleaded, his young green-blue eyes shining brightly. Then he looked excited, and quickly plopped down off the counter and pattered to their room, coming back out with something in his hand.

"Some rich kid from school threw this away. I don't know what it means but I saw the burger and it said f-r-e-e free so I thought I should save it." He said happily, smoothing out the coupon and handing it with excitement to Dean, who skrewed up his face and read it as Sam rocked on the balls of his feet, a bright and expectant look on his six-year-old face.

"Good job reading, Sammy." He said quickly, and read the wrinkled coupon. _Buy two, get two free this weekend only for the grand opening at Bill's Burgers! _The coupon said, and Dean saw the small location map in the corner and realized the restaurant was within biking distance. He lowered the coupon and looked into his brother's hopeful eyes, and he smiled with a few missing teeth at him. "So, can we go Dean? _Pleeaasseee_?" He asked, and Dean immediately felt guilty when Sam's stomach rumbled audibly. He'd been on a growth spurt lately, he'd been getting a lot of them lately and he was only six. _I wonder if that means he's gonna grow a lot, _Dean thought to himself, pocketing the coupon. He could afford two burgers with the bills he picked up here and there, and they could save the other two for tommorow.

"Okay. I'll go pick up lunch, but you have to stay here and be safe. Dad told me to protect you and that means staying here." He said, heading off to his room to get his money and change his clothes.

"But _Deeaan_," Sam looked betrayed as he pulled his mouth into a tiny frown and crossed his arms. "I found that little paper with the free burgers! I want to come!"

"On your tricycle? Sorry Sammy, but you just couldn't keep up." He said, trying to turn it into more of a practical excuse so Sam wouldn't feel so bad. "Maybe when you get your pair of two wheels you can come. Sound okay?" Sam still had his lips pressed together and his arms crossed, but after a minute he finally nodded. "But I want the bigger half." He negotiated, and Dean didn't want to ruin the deal and tell him that he'd have four and he could have one all to himself this time. "Okay, Sammy. See you in a little." He said, and Sam pattered down and plopped back on the couch, watching Tom and Jerry again as he went right back into giggles.

Dean went out into the storage shed and brought out his rusty red bicycle and hopped on. He'd bought it for ten dollars at a garage sale, and would probably leave it here when they hit the road again, but for now he was going to enjoy the freedom it brougt him. He loved the wind combing through his sandy blonde hair as he rode downhill into town, he didn't need a helmet like other kids. He was a _monster hunter, _he didn't need a silly helmet.

Dean was in a good mood as he walked his bike up the slow but steep incline back up to their apartment. The burgers were packed neatly in a white rectangular box tied with some string, and for a moment he played pretend that he was a delivery boy for a very fancy bakery, and he was bringing some pastries or treats with funny french names to customers who would open their doors and have their eyes light up, saying things like 'oh, thank you so much! You're the best delivery boy I've ever had! Here's a one hundred dollar tip!' He imagined for just a little longer, but finally gave up on that daydream and just looked at the tall trees that lined the secluded road, looking at the sunlight flash through the branches as it dappled his face.

Suddenly, his ears perked as he thought he heard the faint sound of crying coming from somewhere. Maybe it was just the wind, or a birdcall? He kept his ears sharp as he rolled his bike up the hill, annoyed at the loud ticking of the wheels as he tried to listen again for the sound. Just when he was about to give up and forget all about it, he heard the faint sobbing again. His heartbeat sped up just a little; a person in danger? Maybe he could help, and be a hero just like his dad.

He followed the sound and it got louder and louder, until he thought he could just barely make out a figure curled up in a ball through the thick trees. "Hello? Who's there?" He called out, and he heard the small whimpers and sobs suddenly cut off, as he saw the figure in the dense trees move slightly, but they didn't make a sound back. Dean tensed up and gripped his handle bars tightly, pressing his lips together as he strained to look in at the person.

"Are you hurt? It's okay, you can come out. I can help you." He called out even louder towards the direction of the figure, he could just make out that he was wearing something tan and had black hair. He heard rustling of the bushes and gripped to his bike handles with white knuckles, anticipating for what he would see next. To his relief, he saw just another kid climb out from the bushes. He had a head of pitch black, tousled and dirty hair, and his face was scratched in a few places, his cheeks were pink from crying and stained with tears as he looked up at this strange new human with wide, blue eyes. Dean relaxed, he looked just a little younger than him, and he didn't look dangerous.

"Are you lost? I can help you find your mommy or daddy," He said kindly, crouching down to try and see him better. Then, his body tensed up and he let out a loud gasp as he saw the dark black wings sprouting from his back as the boy cautiously ventured farther out of the bushes. The boy quickly shrank back into the undergrowth with a scared little whimper when he heard Dean's loud gasp, spooked as he quickly crawled back in on his hands and knees.

_Shoot first, ask questions later. _His dad's motto echoed in his mind, and he screwed up his face in conflict. But he was just a kid, his age if not younger. Maybe they could even be friends.

There was total silence as Castiel sat completely still, hugging his knees to his chest as he shook ever-so-slightly in his tiny tunnel of ferns and vines. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Dean called out, talking to the bush he'd seen the little boy dive right back into. He waited for a second, but didn't get a reply, so he decided to speak up again. "You have a lot of booboos. They could get infected. I can help, Sammy always said I'd be a good doctor when I help him when he hurts." He said again, unsure if the boy was listening or even still there. He waited for a long, drawn-out minute, and his stomach rumbled as the scent of the fresh burgers carried into his nose from a light breeze, he remembered Sam and how hungry he'd been when he left. He turned to head back up the hill, the tires just beginning to click as he heard someone else's stomach grumbling, the sound coming right from that bush the kid had gone into.

"You can have some if you want. I have a few to spare if you're hungry." He tried, but got no response, as expected. He didn't know why he was being so nice to a kid who was clearly a monster, not human like him. Still, when he saw those frightened blue eyes; he was younger than him, and he was just scared and hungry and alone. He felt bad for him; boy, did he know what that was like.

Dean suddenly had an idea. He kicked down the kickstand and tugged the rope off the clean, white box, and when he opened it the aroma of the fresh burgers made his mouth water, and he smiled just slightly when he heard a stomach growl from that bush again. He took one of the burgers and tore just the tiniest of pieces off of it, and set it on top of a leaf on the road. He waited to see if the little winged boy would come out, but he only heard the rustling of the bushes as his tires began to click again. He left another small bite on a tiny leaf-plate about twenty feet away, and kept walking his bike up the hill. He glanced back at just the right time; the boy was crouching down, he sniffled and and dragged his hand over his eyes, he popped the bite into his mouth hungrily, and he stood up and cautiously proceeded.

Dean whipped his head back forward and pretended like he didn't notice that he was following him. For now, he was just so excited that his plan had worked that he didn't think about the consequences of bringing a creature like him home with him, especially when his dad told him to be careful. He pictured the kid in his head, he looked around eight or nine, and he was wearing a tan trench coat with a white shirt and a blue tie, kind of like those uniforms those snobby rich kids wore to private school. Dean smiled and hoped he'd stolen those clothes from those brats, they definitely deserved it. He had black hair to match those smallish black wings on his back.

Dean stopped and put another small bite down, he just barely looked back and saw the boy kneeling down quickly and happily taking the piece and popping it into his mouth, his wings flapping and folding as he straightened up again. This went on for a while; he set one down, and walked his bike a little until the little boy crouched down with a plop and shoved the piece into his mouth, looking just a little happy for the first time since he'd been here, and happily stumbling forward for his next little reward.

Dean spaced them farther and farther apart, and the boy was still following him, venturing even closer now as he waited in anticipation for Dean to set down another bite for him. Finally, he got so close that he snatched up the piece of burger almost right after Dean had set it down. They were just a few feet away from his apartment by now.

"Aha!" Dean said excitedly, twisting around and smiling at the kid. The dark-headed kid froze, startled, his wings spread wide and were stiff with fear and surprise.

He finally got over his tiny falter and dodged into a very straggly bush by the side of the building that didn't cover him much at all. He cowered back and sheilded his face with his pale arms that were riddled with small scratches, desparately trying to flap his wings and fly again. "Wait! I want to help you. You need some band-aids and food. I'm not gonna hurt you," He crouched down and looked the kid up and down as he peered out with wide blue orbs. He sure was odd; from that formal outfit to those ultrablack obsidian wings that folded against his back, starting at his shoulder blades and just reaching down past his lower back.

He didn't say anything as the two very different creatures stared back at each other. Dean wondered if he even could talk or understand him. "You can come back to my house, I could clean you up and stuff." He said cheerfully, and the little boy narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side, his unruly tuft of hair reminding Dean of a baby bird's funny little poof of down. He didn't speak and looked frightened, so Dean spoke up again.

"I'm Dean Winchester and I'm ten years old but I turn eleven in four months. What's your name?" He asked, looking at the creature intently. He looked lost and scared, not like he wanted to hurt him. Where baby monsters even considered the bad guys?

He finally spoke back to him, quietly as he fidgeted his wings nervously. His voice was husky from crying, but it was high-pitched and sweetly boyish. "Castiel, I am an Angel of the Lord. I believe my age will not be proportionate to the way you are perceiving me currently."

Dean looked at him as Cas looked back at him, they both were silent, they both felt like they were in danger or could get in trouble for this. Dean was the one who finally spoke up again. "That sure is a weird name. Mind if I call you Cas?" He asked, finally straightening up and starting to walk his bike again. He was overjoyed when his tactic worked and he realized the angel had crawled out and had started following him again.

"My sister and brother address me by that title," He spoke up quietly, sniffling and looking down at the ground as tears began to roll down his cheeks again. Dean hated it when kids cried, especially when they were younger than him. He felt like this little creature was his responsiblity now, kind of like Sammy is.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. I'm going to help you with those booboos and then we can find your sister and brother too, okay?" He said quickly as the little angel wiped away more tears and sniffled loudly, coming up even closer to the bike and walking next to Dean with his head lowered, somewhat stumbling with small steps to keep up.

"Okay," He replied very softly, and he finally came up close enough for Dean to reach out and touch. Castiel was avoiding his glance as he rubbed his eyes and stumbled along, and he finally reached out and grabbed onto Dean's sleeve of the arm that was holding onto his handlebars. "You can really help me find my family?" He asked hopefully, sniffling and looking up at him with those rich, dark bottle-blue eyes that were washed with tears. "Sure, Cas. But for now, we gotta keep _my_ family from finding _you_."


	3. Chapter 3

"You'll be safe in here, Cas. No one but me and Sam come in here, it's pretty much just old people who live here." Dean assured the frightened angel as he looked at his tiny new hiding place, the back corner of the bike shed that Dean had set up with some pillows and blankets, and on a tool shelf he had some soda for him and dry cereal.

"What's 'old'?" Castiel asked quietly, sitting down on the blankets as Dean plopped down behind him, some tweezers pinched in his teeth as he gently reached out to unfold the wings and search for thorns. The feathers were much softer than he thought they'd be, and he plucked the tweezers from his mouth as he spotted the first thorn embedded deeply into the skin.

"You're not from here, are you?" Dean stated the obvious, quickly pinching the thorn head and yanking it out as Cas let out a little whimper. "I'm sorry, it will feel better if I take them out, I promise."

Cas wiped a tear away and nodded patiently, speaking up quietly again. "No. This is my first time here. I live far far away and my brothers and sisters probably don't know where I am!" He cried, burying his face in his small hands. He sobbed gently as another thorn was quickly pulled out by Dean behind him. "I don't like this place. People are scary and things hurt."

"It's not all bad, Cas. _I'm_ not scary, right?" Dean asked, and Cas pondered for a second before he shook his head. Dean looked over his wings once more, pulling the black apart and looking in every fold before he was sure that there weren't anymore thorns. He took his little first aid kit and sorted through, finding the neosporin and dabbing a little glob onto each tiny puncture.

"Now, let's see all those scratches." He said in his big-brother tone, turning Cas towards him, who looked confused. "Here, hold out your arms." He did the motion himself when Cas mimicked him, and he looked at the many angry cuts on his arms.

"What happened? Did you try to bathe a cat or something?" He joked, starting to peel the first band-aid and Cas flinched just a little when he smeared a little neosporin on a cut, but kept his arms steady.

"No, I was hurt by a thorn bush. I thought you knew that when you saw there were a few entangled in my wings." He stated, cocking his head to the side. Dean chuckled and stuck the first band-aid on gently. "You sure are an odd bird, Cas."

Suddenly, the air got just a little bit warmer and suddenly, all the red punctures were glowing a bright white, they all resealed and his skin was smooth, pale and completely unblemished. Dean stared in disbelief, almost dropping the first aid kit. Cas looked equally surprised as he turned his arms around, staring intently at the smooth skin with narrowed eyes. Dean gently peeled the one band-aid off with shock, seeing nothing but a clear smear underneath on top of perfectly smooth skin.

"How did you do that?" He spoke up, shocked as he looked into his face.

"I...I don't know." He stammered, once again turning over his smooth arms. "I've never been to Earth before." He repeated, and pressed his lips together and looked extremely scared and lost. Dean straightened up and checked his watch. It was almost seven by now.

"I need to start getting dinner ready for my little brother and maybe for my dad if he comes home tonight. You can sleep here, right? I promise I'll come back right when I wake up. Maybe we can do some fun things when we figure out how to hide those wings of yours," He said happily, lifting a blanket and motioning for Cas to slip underneath.

"What's 'sleep'?" He asked again, pulling the blanket up to his chin and looking confused.

"You mean you don't..." Dean started, looking down at the strange creature he'd taken in. How much trouble would he be in if his dad found out he was helping the enemy? But Cas was so tiny and innocent and scared, he just _had_ to help him.

"I suppose I will wait here, then." He said back quietly, blinking up at Dean with wide eyes. "Night, Cas. I'll come back in the morning."

Dean worked hard on dinner that night, he knew how hungry Sammy had been lately. And maybe if their dad came home tonight he'd be proud at the yummy chicken noodle soup he was making. However, their dad didn't show up and him and Sam ate the soup alone at the dining room table, before getting up, cleaning their bowls and putting them away, and finally heading off to bed again.

"You brushed your teeth?" Dean asked when he tucked Sam into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin as Sam nodded and smiled. "Haaa. See?" He blew a puff of minty breath into the air, then snuggled down into his pillow and smiled. "No cavity monsters for me."

"Good. G'night, Sammy." He said quietly, brushing his long brown hair out of his eyes. He should give him a haircut soon, it was too expensive to take him to a barber every month when his brown locks grew a mile a minute. "You know what to do if you have a scary dream, right?"

"Um-hm." He nodded. "Get you." Dean smiled and kissed him gently on the forehead, then slipped off the bed to head to the light switch.

"G'night, Dean." Sam said quietly as his brother turned of the light and slipped into his own bed against the wall a few feet away. "'Night."

Meanwhile, Cas was wide awake in the bike shed, every single little noise was scaring him as he gripped his blankets tightly. The wind rattled a window nearby, whistling eerily through the crack under the door. A branch tapped on the shed, it sounded like someone knocking on the door. He heard a loud crunch as a branch fell from a tree and snapped on the ground, and suddenly it was too much.

He bolted out of the shed, and he was somehow able to feel where his newfound friend was, as he ran as fast through the chilly night as fast as his little legs would take him. He unlocked the door in panic, he was able to reach in and pull the mechanisms telepathically as he flew through the quiet apartment, finally locating Dean in his room. He was lying down and silent, he must have been doing this strange 'sleeping' habit. He slowly fit himself in a corner of the room, and now that it was warm and quiet and cozy, he felt a strange heavy sensation as he began to fall asleep too.

He was quickly jolted awake by a shrill screaming. Cas's eyes flew open; it was now morning and sunlight streamed into the bedroom, and he saw a small boy looking at him with wide eyes, pointing. The harsh noise startled the angel, who began to scream back.

"Ahhhhh!" Sam squealed.

"Ahhhhh!" Cas screamed back, he stumbled to stand up, and he tried to run out the door but his wings were spread, he tweaked it on the doorpost and he fell and crashed to the ground. Dean was up and had quickly slipped off his bed, and Sam ran to him and buried his face in his stomach, gripping him tightly.

"There's a monster in the house, Dean! Kill it!" He sobbed, and Cas stumbled to try and get up, falling down again as his wings flapped helplessly, one of them was tweaked.

"Shhh. Sammy, this isn't a monster. He's my friend." He said soothingly, and Sam looked up at him with a confused glance in his teary eyes. "But...but..." He stammered, pressing his lips together.

"Here, you'll see." He gently pulled Sam's arms off of him and led him by the hand to stand next to Castiel.

"Cas, are you okay?" He asked sympathetically, as Sam cowered behind him and squeezed his hand, biting nervously on a fingernail as tears sparkled in his innocent eyes. Castiel rolled to crouch, he looked very shaken up as well as he shakily stood up. "Yes. I am now. But I don't like that shed, Dean." He said waterily, frowning just a little as he tried to fold his wings against his back, and he peered at Sam curiously.

Sam let out a little gasp and cowered behind Dean, squeezing his hand tightly and looking at the angel with just one glittering eye. "Who is this? Why was he making those unpleasant noises at me?" Cas sniffled, spreading his injured wing out and gently stroking his sore muscles anxiously.

"This is Sammy, he's my little brother and he was just scared." Dean explained, trying to gently lead him out from behind him but he firmly resisted, shaking his head.

"You have only one brother?" Cas asked, tilting his head just slightly as he kept his eyes curiously on Sam. "Well, yeah. Why? How many do you got?"

"It's _have_, Dean." Sam corrected him, sniffling and squeezing his hand tightly. Dean rolled his eyes slightly. "Fine, how many do you _have_?"

Cas answered without hesitation. "Seven-hundred twenty-eight thousand, six hundred and twenty four. But sometimes that number changes, when they're born or die."

The two boys looked out at him, extremely confused. "How do you even keep track?" Dean finally asked, feeling a little bit better as Sam began to venture just a little closer from behind his back. "Yeah Cas, how do you keep track?" He echoed, biting his fingernails nervously.

"Well, I only have a few close brothers and sisters. But they flew away and left me when two scary men brought out a loud booming stick that coughed smoke." He spoke up quietly, shuddering when he remembered.

"People shot at you, Cas? Why?" Dean asked, as Sam finally ventured out from behind him and was looking at Castiel curiously. Cas screwed up his face in thought. "I...I am not sure. I remember said that we were filthy creatures," He said, and Sam looked up at him with wide eyes. Cas suddenly sat down again and he held his head in his hands. "I want to go home. I want to see my fambly," He sniffled, dragging the back of his hands across his eyes.

"Are you an angel?" Sam asked quietly, his eyes shining. Cas shuffled his wings and nodded. "But not the way that you think. I'm too little to do many things my kin can do," He admitted, and Sam ventured closer. "Where is your family?" He asked, itching his belly, he was wearing his favorite pair of footise pajamas, blue with little clouds, Dean had convinced him it was his 'good luck' pajamas that would keep the bad guys away.

"I don't know. Back home." He said quietly, and Sam was looking at his wings in wonder. "Those are pretty," He said happily, and Cas just looked up with a slightly confused expression as Sam came quickly onto his lap and gave him a hug. "Me and Dean can help you! Don't you worry!" He said with a little smile.

"How?" Cas asked, sitting completely unresponsive to Sam's hug. Why was he squeezing him like that? If he wasn't smiling, it almost looked like he wanted to hurt him. Sam suddenly had a flash of insight and sprung from his lap, and opened up the closet that was mostly bare with a few toys.

"Use this!" He piped up, taking his plastic phone out from the closet. "You do this..and this.." He demonstrated excitedly, twirling the little dial. "Then you say 'hello operator, may I speak with...' and then you say their name and then they-connect stuff and and-and then they can find you!" He said, and Dean chuckled and brought out the real phone. He spun the dial to O and gave Cas the reciever, who pulled it to his ear with an uncertain glance.

"Hello Operator, may I speak with God?" He stated completely seriously, without so much of a smile.

"Kid, stop prank calling. I'm trying to do my job." The lady on the line said irritably and the line went dead.

"That was not nearly as helpful as I imagined." Cas said dejectedly, hanging his head and sighing. Dean was trying hard not to burst out laughing. "We'll find them, Cas. Maybe just a different way." Suddenly Dean remembered what he'd wanted to ask before.

"Do you remember who shot at you? What they looked like?" He asked, helping the angel onto his feet and they all headed out of the bedroom.

"Human." Castiel answered simply.

"I'm gonna need just a little more than that!" Dean chuckled, and Cas screwed his face up in thought. "Male. They were tall...taller than you and me. One of them called the other 'Johnny.'" He recalled, and Dean's face drained of blood at that last word.

_Oh no._ He panicked, this really was the creature his dad had warned him to stay away from, the rats of the skies? But he was his friend! He needed to keep this creature safe and hidden from his own father. He hoped he could; he could never forgive himself if his dad hurt Cas. _He's a freaking angel. I need to protect him_.

"Okay, Cas. We'll move you out of that shed, but don't let anyone but me and Sammy see you, okay?" He said, and Cas nodded back at him. "Okay," he agreed, and looked down as Sam tugged on the sleeve of his coat. "Come see the TV with me! This is a good show!" He urged, taking him to sit down on the couch.

Dean watched as Sam explained the show, speaking so fast and excitedly that he sometimes stumbled over his words, as Cas listened and sat quietly. He felt responsible for both of them now; and he would try his hardest to get his friend back home and safe.


	4. Chapter 4

That night their dad still hadn't come home. He had called just once, and talked to Dean for just a minute, telling him he'd be home soon and to take care of Sam and make sure he didn't get a cavity, because it would be too expensive. Dean didn't like talking to his dad over the phone, because their discussions always went like this.

"Don't get into any trouble. I'll see you by Tuesday at the latest." He said, and the line clicked and went dead. Dean wished he would at least say "Keep your nose clean" or something nice, like what Bobby said when he talked to him on the phone. He didn't even expect an 'I love you', but maybe just something would be nice.

That had been the only damper to his day, actually. Once Sam got over his initial fright, he fell in love with the concept of having an angel as a friend. They found a temporary solution to hide his wings, if he tucked them in very tight and wore one of their dad's huge jackets he would seem almost normal. The day had burned away quickly, and Dean offered for Cas to come to the supermarket with him if he wanted to buy things for dinner, but he was too scared still.

"All the tall people I've seen have booming sticks and yell." He said, and he looked like a little eskimo in the extremely bulky jacket that came down almost to his knees. "And this article of clothing is not comfortable."

"Fine. I guess we can just have some soup leftover from last night." He compromised, and Cas gratefully tore off the huge jacket and left it in a lump on the floor. He finally stretched his cramped wings, bending them at the joints and settling them back to fold on his back with a noisy shuffle.

"I don't want to wear that again, Dean." He said quietly, looking down at the lump of a jacket and frowning.

"Okay. I don't know what you're going to do tomorrow though, Cas. Me and Sam have to go to school, it's Monday." He brought out the cooking pot and the tupperware from the fridge and dumped it in.

"I can wait here." He said in a small voice, and Dean frowned. His dad might hurt him if he found him all by himself at the house. Maybe he could find a place to hide him.

The three ate dinner at the table tonight, and Dean didn't feel quite so alone anymore, when Cas was sitting in the seat that was usually empty and meant for their dad.

"You brushed your teeth?" Dean asked again as he tucked Sam in to bed again, he was feeling anxious about what would happen to Cas when he was gone at school. "Minty minty keeps the cavity monsters away," Sam replied, turning over and snuggling into his pillow. "Is Cas going to stay forever?" He asked, and Dean frowned. "No, just until we find his family." He answered, and Sam peeped open a light eye. "But he's going to be our friend forever, right?"

Dean wasn't sure about that either. "Sure, Sammy." He answered quietly, before brushing that too-long hair from his forehead and kissing it. "G'night. I won't let the bad dreams get you tonight, okay?"

"Kay." The little boy turned over and shut his eyes. Dean slid off the bed and went to get the light switch, when he heard another voice pipe up from the room.

"What about me? Can you ward off the bad dreams with a seal of the lips for me as well?"

Dean chuckled and went to the closet, and opened the door that was already slightly ajar and saw Cas peer up at him from inside. He smile when he saw that the blankets that he'd arranged into a perfect bed were now all rumpled and pushed around to something that more closely resembled a nest. Dean crouched down and pulled the top most layer over him, laughing as he explained. "Kissing him doesn't seal away the bad dreams. I just do that because he's my family."

"Can I be your family?" He asked quietly. "I have many, many brothers and sisters, but I think I have room for two more." Dean smiled. He usually wasn't very good at making friends, and now him and Sam had this little guy to play with until they helped him find his family.

"G'night, Cas." He smiled and gave him a little kiss on the forehead too. "I command away all nightmares with the powerful seal of a mortal human's well-wishing." He joked, but Cas cluelessly blinked up at him. "My deepest gratitude for your protection." Dean laughed, flipped off the light switch and crawled into bed. He actually felt _happy_ for what seemed like the first time in a long time when he fell asleep. He was glad he had his new strange little friend in his life.

Cas was trying to fall asleep, but something was keeping his awake. He breathed in deeply, and with horror he saw Dean breathe in deeply at the exact same moment. He held his breath, and Dean's ribcage was still in his bed as well. Cas slipped from his blanket nest and quickly came up to Dean's bedside, and placed one hand on Dean's chest and another on his. Their hearts were beating at the exact same time.

_I will not hurt Dean_! Cas thought in a panic as he remembered what Ana had warned him. He was too little to live on Earth like the older angels, and he needed heaven to supply him with enough energy to live. And she warned him about the dangers of staying too long; Angel moro. He would latch onto an energy source, they would become one like how he was one with heaven.

He knew he required much more energy than a human did. And if Dean was the first human he came in contact with, he had instinctuively latched to him for his baby angel energy needs. He still kept his hand over both their chests, and both the heartbeats began to speed as he started to panic. Dean stirred ever-so-slightly, but then fell back asleep.

"I'm sorry, Dean! I will find a way to fix this. Please do not do anything reckless at school tomorrow." He whispered, and he finally took his hand off his chest, and felt extremely tired as he only curled up at the foot of Dean's bed instead of heading back to his tiny nest in the closet.

_O Gabriel, O Ana and Raphael! Please bring me home, before I hurt my new friend._ He pleaded, before falling instantly asleep as the moro deepened, bringing the two beings even closer as their chests rose and fell together, their hearts fluttering simultaneously as if they were one.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you sure Cas is gonna be okay here?" Sam asked in a small voice, and he looked up at Dean with bright eyes.

"I told him to hide if he heard anything. He'll be okay," Dean reassured his little brother. "I promise. Now get in, or we're gonna be late!" He sat on his bike and held the handlebars steady. The six-year-old clambered onto the wheel and sat in the basket. He actually loved it when their dad couldn't drive them to school; he loved his dad's rumbling, beautiful car, but he liked the few days when he got to ride to school in the basket of Dean's bike and feel the wind in his hair as he raced them to school.

He pumped the pedals and raced quickly down the road hugged by tall pines trees. He liked this town more than most he'd lived in so far; usually, the surrounding areas of the towns they'd passed through were dirty, graffitied, full of trailer homes and the land was always so flat and uninteresting. This town was different- there were tall trees and hills and the motels and apartments were a lot more like cabins. Some were even made of logs, and that made him feel like a young Lincoln. Him and his brother could be a heros just like him. He puffed out his breath as he pushed to go faster, they needed to get to school on time today.

Little did he know, Cas was also breathing heavily as his heart pumped as if he were biking uphill with an extra forty pounds, not just sitting at home.

He breathed heavily and took out the phone that Dean had let him use before. He quickly spun to the O and pressed the reciever to his ear and felt sweat begin to bead on his cheeks. "Hello Operator, may I speak with Gabriel?" He panted, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"_Gabriel whom_?"

He had to think for a second, squinting his eyes. "Gabriel Christ, Angel of the Lord."

"_Are you the same kid who called me before? Stop prank calling or I'm going to speak with your parents._" The line clicked and went dead. Cas felt tears pop into his eyes again as he panted through their connection.

_Huh, that's weird_. Dean thought as tears came to his eyes._ I must have gotten some dust in my eyes. _

Cas whimpered and quickly wiped his eyes, trying to stop crying. He was thirsty, but now he was all alone all day. He opened the fridge, where he'd seen Dean take food before. He saw a can, but he didn't know what the label meant but all he knew was it looked a little like the soda Dean had given him a little while ago. He had liked the soda; it was sweet and bubbly and gave him a little rush up his nose as it burned, but in a good way. He opened up the can the way Dean had shown him and took a big gulp.

Dean had set down his backpack and sat down in his desk, it was smack in the middle of the classroom. He didn't talk much in school; he felt like it wasn't worth it to try and make any friends, to try and get attached. Because he knew he'd be leaving soon anyway. He took out his pencil and placed it on his desk, as well as his homework from over the weekend. Suddenly, the numbers on the paper from his many multiplication practice problems began to get a little blurry as his face felt like it was getting hotter.

He didn't want to be getting sick; he didn't know what he would do if he had to go home early. How would Sam get home? And who would take care of him and Cas if he was sick in bed?

He sat down and tried to keep still, but his head began rolling around what felt like involuntarily as the classroom seemed to get warm and fuzzy and he began feeling really silly.

"Dean? Are you feeling okay?" The teacher asked skeptically, he was getting a flush on his cheeks and was grinning goofily. He perked up as she said his name, then began laughing hysterically. "Yeah, teach. I got me an angel at home andd I maaddee a friieeennnd!" He laughed, rubbing his face with a grin plastered on his face. He then began _singing_. "I gots me an anjiill, and he gots mee..n' now he's says we famberly..."

If the teacher wasn't mistaken, he seemed..drunk? But he was a ten-year-old boy at eight in the morning, and he'd been a good, quiet student until now.

Cas didn't exactly like the taste of the substance he was drinking. It was strong and bubbly, but he was so thirsty. And he wanted to find the soda. Maybe if he went through these cans, one of them had to be that sweet soda, right? He was feeling a little funnier with each gulp.

Dean giggled, fell from his chair, and began side-splitting laughter as he hit the ground. A few kids glanced at him with a confused expression, but many were pointing and laughing instead. Dean was now the center of the class's attention.

"Dean, that is quite enough." The teacher scolded him, looking angry. "Sit back in your seat."

Dean clambered off the floor and pointed his pencil, jabbing with each word. "I dun't like yoo, n' I dunt like nunna dese kids in this _sttuuuppiiidd_ schouul." He slurred. The teacher began to get an angry flush on her cheeks.

"Sit down now, Dean, or you're getting detention." She said harshly, tapping her pencil impatiently on her desk that she sat behind.

"I ain't lesternin ta bitches like yooo!" He slurred, and the class began to laugh hysterically as the teacher roughly stood up, her face flushed with red. "Principles office. _Now_, Winchester." She demanded, desperately trying to settle down her classroom, which was in hysterics. Dean began feeling crushing guilt as he stumbled from the room, and it didn't help that his classmates were all clapping as he left the room.

He was going to get in so much trouble with his dad for this.

_Dean, I'm sorry! I was looking for the soda and I drank something funny instead! _Dean heard Cas's voice from close by, and he whipped his head around to look. "Cas?" He called out, but the little winged boy was nowhere to be seen. "Cas? Did ya folla me a shhool?"

He got no response, and he dipped his head and began walking to the principal's office, for some reason he couldn't exactly walk straight, and he suddenly found that lockers had seemed to jump in front of his path. What the hell was happening to him?

He put his hands up on the cold metal locker and tried to steady himself, breathing in and out. Unfortunately, that was not the opportune moment for some deep breaths. Cas was drinking more beer, and he sputtered as his connected lungs were forced to take a deep breath.

Dean coughed and retched, and something trickled into his palm from his mouth. It was yellowish-clear and bubbly and smelled bad, like when Dad came home from the bar. _Beer_?! But he'd only had this stuff by accident almost two years ago!

Suddenly, he felt overwhelmed by fear, but it wasn't from finding himself spontaneously coughing up alcohol. Somehow, he knew the fear wasn't self generated. It was almost as if he were picking it up from an outside source, he could just _feel_ it. Then, he heard a loud ribbit from the nearest classroom door.

That's right! It had been hyped all over school that the sixth graders would be doing frog dissection this week. And they were doing it tomorrow. Dean suddenly rushed into the classroom, and he was briefly met with dozens of staring older eyes as he ran to their enclosure, rammed it a few feet to the window outside, and he pushed it over roughly. The frogs began pattering into the ferns below, plopping, hopping, and scattering. The kids in the classroom were too shocked to do anything.

"Go free, amphibious acquaintances of Earth!" He screamed, his arms raising over his head in triumph. But those weren't his words tumbling from his mouth- he knew right away they were from Cas.

"What the HELL have you done!?" The professor yelled angrily from behind him. _Dammit, Cas!_ He thought to himself as he turned around, keeping his eyes to the floor. Why had this happened to him? Oh, his dad was going to get so mad. They'd probably have to skip town, and he couldn't leave Cas. And he has just started to like this town. That little angel was going to be the death of him!


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi guys! Sorry for the wait, and the cliffhanger haha. I'm thinking this will only have one or two chapters left, too. I've never written such a short ficlet before, and please tell me what you think. Have you seen or not seen ET, and has that heightened your enjoying of the story? Please review! Depending on feedback, I might try more weechester or movie-based fics in the future :) _

* * *

Dean felt his stomach squeezing into knots as he sat on the hard, cold plastic chair in the principal's office, swinging his legs nervously and wringing his hands. His face still felt hot and his vision was a little blurry, but he thought he'd mostly gotten over it. It was getting harder and harder to focus as if he were falling asleep, and he was battling to keep himself awake.

"Yes, Mr. Winchester, he just flung all of out Biology class's fresh frogs out the window! We had those shipped in for experimentation and-yes, it _is_ going to be quite pricey, sir. And _another_ thing...your son came into this office smelling like beer, sir. Would you know anything about that?"

He struggled to keep his eyelids open as the principal huffed out a breath and slammed the phone back down into the reciever. "This is going on your permanent record, son. You'd better believe that." She ran her hands through her hair and let out an exasperated sigh. "You will wait here for your father and do nothing else." She ordered him, stepping outside and pulling a box of cigarettes from her dress pocket. "These kids are making me age, dammit, in my thirties and got a grey hair..."

Dean hung his head in shame and chose to only look at his hands as he squeezed them together, but perked his head up when he heard a voice again.

_Dean_.

He whipped his head around the office, looking for the little dark-haired boy, but instead he only saw framed family photos and pencil cases and cheesy knick-knacks like a bobble head staring out at him with googly eyes.

"Cas, where are you? Godammit, after I get you out of here I'm gonna give you a spanking." He said angrily, clenching his fists as he bobbed and weaved his head, searching high and low for the kid. Was he under the desk, maybe? Behind it?

_Dean, my deepest sympathies for what is about to happen to you. _

Dean perked up again, his eyes widening. This time he knew the voice wasn't coming from somewhere in the office, instead it was coming from inside his own head.

"_Cas_! Cas, what the hell are you talking about? _What's_ going to happen to me?" He hissed out, still searching the room and darting his eyes around. He suddenly heard a dull ringing in his ears, and his face tightened as his vision got extremely bright and began swirling with black. "..Cas?" He managed to croak out, as he thought he saw the little kid in the room, just a spectre of his image, standing and watching, his wings drooping in exhaustion, eyelids dropping, and Dean could make out the tiniest of rings of light around his head, a thread-thin pure white halo. Then, all alone in the principal's office, he crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

When he came to, he recognized the rumbling sound of the Impala's engine as he lay outstretched in the backseat. His head was splitting, and his body felt like it had been hit by a tonne of cinderblocks. He barely had enough energy to open his eyes, and he was immediately met with Sam's round-cheeked face just inches above his, his huge light eyes widened as his floppy brown hair fell over his forehead.

When he saw his eyes had opened, the six-year-old let out a sad cry and almost suffocated him as he tackled his head and neck into a large hug. "Dean, daddy said you might be dying!" He cried, scrambling backwards to grip onto Dean's chest as he let out an alarmed muffled sound.

"I'm okay, Sammy. Damn, I really need to give you a haircut." He said wearily, pushing the soft locks from his forehead in an attempt to comfort him as the kid pulled himself tighter and hiccuped with tiny frightened sobs.

"Dean. You have some explaining to do." His dad's voice came from the front seat, it was low and angry. "This isn't a natural sickness. So what got at you? Didn't I tell you to shoot first?"

Dean felt like his body had been doused in ice water by how quickly his dad had found out. He decided to play dumb. "Dad, I-I swear! I have no idea!"

"And why did you get into my beer, Dean? I told you never to touch that stuff." He said, concern shining in his eyes as he gripped his hands tighter on the wheel and pressed the pedal to get home faster. What kind of monster was going to be coming after his sons next? And Dean was never very well-behaved in school, granted he did always listen with hunting instructions, but getting drunk at school? He was only ten years old, for God's sake!

"I _didn't_!" Dean insisted truthfully, and had to stifle a gasp as he realized that it would have been better to just pretend he did drink it and hadn't aquired it somehow through Cas, who had been miles away. He felt his head swimming again, and Sam tightened his grip but Dean felt faraway already as he zoomed in and out of consciousness.

He was able to see one thing; his dad had whipped out his cell phone, and said quickly "Hello Bobby? I need to know about these rats of the skies. What can they do? Or what can they do to humans?"

When Dean woke up again, he felt like he had been sleeping for a long time and it felt like someone had stuffed his entire head with tissues. _Oh, no._ He was back at home, waking up from his bed. If his dad was home...

Cas.

"Sammy! _Sam_!" He cried out, scrambling to get out of bed. Surprisingly, he didn't feel so weak anymore, and he didn't have as many aches and pains like he'd had in the car. He heard the pattering of feet as Sam ran into his legs and gripped them tight wordlessly. "Sam, where's Cas? Have you seen him?" He whispered, feeling his heart twist in his chest. What if Dad had already gotten to him? Or worse, what if he ran away and got hurt? He didn't even know what sleeping was, so what if he got hit by a car?

The small kid shook his head. "I tried to sneak away and find him, but Dad told me to stay here! I think he's trying to go after whatever's doing this to you, I think he's going after Cas!" He cried out desperately, tears coming through his voice.

Dean reached under the bed and grabbed his gun, and stuffed it into his back pocket. "Any leads?" He asked in a serious voice, reaching down with one hand to grab Sam's small, expectant hand and the other to lay on top of the gun's grip.

"I found a black feather, just past the bike shed into the woods before Dad dragged me back home. It was big, I know it was his." He explained shakily, tightly gripping onto Dean's hand and nervously biting his nail, tears shining in his eyes.

"Okay, we'll start there, then. Sammy, grab the flashlight. We might be looking a while." Sam nodded with exaggerating motion and quickly flew to the cupboard uder the sink and snatched up a flashlight. Dean noticed his hands were trembling as he handed it to him, quickly grabbing Dean's hand once he'd tucked the flashlight into his back pocket once more.

"Dean, are we going to find him? What if he's hurt, or sick too.." Sam whimpered.

"We'll find him, okay? Even if it takes all night." He replied in a determined voice, reassuringly squeezing Dean's hand as they both quickly strode down the steps and crunched into the woods.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced winged boy was curled up on his side in a mess of orange and brown leaves, sweating and shivering at the same time. His halo was dimly shining, he wasn't sure why it had appeared visibly out of the blue.

He could feel himself getting sleepier, weaker as his energy needs from heaven failed to be met. He didn't know if the communication would work anymore, but he tried anyway.

_I broke the connection, Dean. _

He could tell it didn't go through this time. He squeezed his eyes shut feverishly and began to pray, tightening his small dark wings around himself.

_O Gabriel, O Ana, O Raphael and Balthazar...please hurry. _

His eyes shut and he breathed out a rattling breath as he felt himself begin to slip away. He didn't notice as a bright star streaked across the sky as he shivered and curled into a small, feathery ball. Would he ever see his family again, or would he die on this alien planet? A small tear slipped from under his eyelid. _Where are you, Dean? __  
_


	7. Chapter 7

"Cas?" Dean was calling out, he was feeling so much better now, but nothing else strange was happening to his body. He figured the angel must have cut off whatever was making him weak from before.

"Cas? Where are you?" Sam cried out, sweeping the flashlight over the dark trees. The little boy squeezed Dean's hand even tighter. "Dean, what if we can't find him?" Sam whimpered, sniffling and pressing close to his side.

"We _will_, Sammy. He's my friend and I'm going to protect him." Dean said in a determined voice, keeping his hand firmly on the gun in the sheath in his belt, making sure if any of the shadowy monsters he imagined were out here crawled from the shadows of these gnarled trees.

"Dean," The baby angel was crying out, curled up on the forest floor as his halo glowed dimly, surging in and out of light like a dying lightbulb. His energy was sapping away too quickly, and if he didn't connect with some power source soon...

"Dean." The angel rasped hoarsely, his wings wrapped tight around his body. "Sammy. Dean."

"Wait. Shh." Dean stopped walking, the crunching underfoot finally stopping as an owl hooted and crickets trilled out.

"Dean..." He heard the muffled voice call out from not to far away, and Dean and Sam almost began tripping over their own feet as they began sprinting down to where they'd heard the voice, the flashlight beam jumping crazily as they sprinted.

"_Cas_!" Dean sighed in relief, dropping to his knees and putting his hand on the tiny angel's shoulders. "Are you okay? Did my dad hurt you?"

"Dean. I broke the connection," The angel husked out quietly, shutting his eyes as his clean white halo glowed and dimmed, and he shivered in the cold.

"What's wrong with you, Cas?" Dean's breath caught in his throat. He quickly stripped off his jacket and sat Cas up, wrapping it around his shoulders as the baby angel shivered violently in the cold. Sammy whimpered and pulled the pale-faced kid into a tight side hug.

"I connected myself to you. I'm too little to survive without some energy supply. I took from heaven, but I began taking from you. And I was killing you." Cas rasped. "But I broke the connection."

Dean frowned and his eyebrows narrowed over his eyes. "Take my energy, Cas! I don't care! _Take it!_"

Tears popped into his eyes as Cas rattled out a shallow breath. "Cas, connect again! I don't care if I get sick again!"

"O Ana, O Gabriel, Balthazar, Raphael..brothers, sisters..." Cas muttered feverishly, leaning backward on Dean. Sweat was exuding from his pores on his wan face, he breathed shallowly in and out, the white light circling his head fading even more.

Suddenly, there was a bright white blast of light that Dean had to cover his face. He finally lowered his hand, and he saw a glowing woman in front of him. She was tall, dressed in a fancy pantsuit, with her reddish-brown hair in a bun. Her white wings were full grown and folded easily on her back, draping down beautifully.

"Who are _you_?" Dean shot out, gripping the dying angel tightly, wrapped up in his off-green jacket.

"My name is Naomi. And I am here to take Castiel home." She said in a soothing voice.

"You'll help him get better?" Dean asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "You're his family?"

"Yes. Thank you for caring for him while he was lost." She said, reaching out to the small dark-haired kid. His halo glowed a little brighter as she came closer. She finally pulled him into her arms, his halo finally getting steady and bright once again.

"He'll be okay?" Dean asked, as Sam came forward and hugged Dean tightly instead, their eyes glinting from bright white emitting from Castiel's halo.

"Yes. Thank you, Dean." She smiled, as Cas pulled himself over her shoulder. "But I may not allow you to remember him. You _or_ Sam." She broke it to them, and Dean's face fell.

"But...he's my friend. And I love him." He said, his jade eyes shining sadly.

"You three will meet again. It is engraved in all of your destinies." She smile a little, rubbing the eight-year-old's back. "And Castiel will surely not forget his friends, the Righteous Man and his little brother."

Dean let his eyes close as she pressed her palm gently into his forehead, and she then moved on to Sam's. "Be safe, small humans. Castiel will meet you again, someday." And with that, she disappeared with a light fluttering of wings.

Dean and Sam blinked, disoriented, looking at the dark forest that surrounded all of them.

"Dean? What's going on?" Sam asked, gripping tightly to Dean's side. "Why are we in the forest?"

"I...I dunno." Dean replied, as he began to lead them out of it. "But let's go home. Forests always give me the creeps."

* * *

That night, Dean gave Sam a haircut, wanting something to do as he didn't understand the strange sadness he was feeling. He swept the hair off the floor, gave Sam a bubble bath to get rid of the 'itchies' left over from the tiny hairs.

He finally tucked him in, kissing his shampoo-smelling damp hair and switching off the light. "Goodnight, Sam. You know what to if you have a nightmare, right?"

"Get you." Sam replied, snuggling down into his covers and rolling over. "Goodnight, Dean. Goodnight, Cas."

Dean screwed up his face, why did that seem so familiar? "Who's Cas?" He asked.

"I..dunno." Sam answered, looking equally confused.

"Well, sleep tight." Dean went to brush the hair off his forehead, and chuckled when he remembered he didn't have to anymore.

He flicked off the lights and crawled into bed, falling into a shallow and rocky sleep.

Late at night, when he and Sam were fast asleep, the silence was cozy and wrapping them up like a blanket, a glowing Castiel returned. Naomi waited at the front of the room as he crawled up to Sam's bed. "Goodbye, Samuel. Thank you for your help." He kissed him on the cheek, and then crawled to Dean's bed, his shoulders rolling and his wings flapping and folding.

"Goodbye, Righteous Man. I will see you again, someday. When we're big grown-ups." He kissed him on the cheek, and Naomi was then lifting him into her arms again. "Time to come home, Castiel."

"You promise I'll see them again?" He whispered quietly into her ear.

"I promise." She smiled a little. "Now, let us go back to heaven."

And CB went home.

* * *

_Many years later..._

Dean had his eyes closed as candlelight flickered from under his eyelids, holding hands with others in a circle.

"Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy." Pamela said with the tiny hint of a smile.

Dean perked up, the name slipping from his mouth. "Castiel?" He asked. Why was that name so familiar? Had he heard it from somewhere before? His eyebrows knit together in thought.

Why couldn't he recall?

But even though he didn't remember, the angel who pulled him from hell would always remember the ten-year-old boy and his little brother who had laid out a trail of burgers, pulled the thorns from his wings, and helped him go back home so many years ago.


End file.
